Imams and religious leaders are in the frontline assisting the community at large in their Islamic needs. They are looked up to as individuals who can guide them as they navigate spiritual and worldly matters in a knowledgeable and insightful manner. They expect their imam to have not only an intellectually sophisticated understanding of Islamic sources but also a keen appreciation of the Western contexts in which they are living.

This led AMJA to provide another service to Muslim community – Imams Conference. Our signature conferences have been an asset to various Imams throughout the North American Continent. In these conferences, we discuss various issues pertaining to the role of the Imam in our community as a minority. In all these issues we identify issues of jurisprudence, analyze them, research them, and offer solutions based on the understanding of the American culture and reality and the traditional understanding of our religion.

Since the admission to these conferences is usually subsidized  and the hotel room is also paid for by AMJA, AMJA can only host 150 Imams per year and accepts Imams on a first come first served bases.

Past Conferences

Year	Keyword
2012	Nutrition
2011	Media
2010	Arbitration
2009	Youth
2008	Careers
2007	Interfaith
2006	Activism
2005	Investment

9th Imams Conference

March 2nd – 4th 2012 | Los Angeles, California

Rulings of the slaughtered animals and the methods of sacrificing:

1. The slaughterer and related contemporary issues:
2. Are nowadays Christians considered of the People of the Scripture whose sacrifices are permissible?
3. On the account that the society is a blend of Christians and others, in which case differentiation might be difficult
- On the account that many Christians nowadays are not abiding by their Book and the teachings of Christianity
- What is the ruling concerning the slaughtered animals of the Christians affiliated to novel sects such as the Mormons and others?
- The Jews ask their priests to bless the slaughtering; does this affect the ruling?

4. Are the slaughtered animals of straying or dissenting sects considered sound? And what about those of the debauched who committed a major sin or left out something which is a subject of dispute on whether the one who abandons it is a disbeliever?
5. Slaughtered animals of the Shiites, Bareilly sect, the one who leaves out prayers and the like.
6. Is the ruling on the slaughtered animals of the Magis as that of the People of the Scripture? Who are the Magis, and are others from the people of the religions associated with them?
7. The ruling concerning the carcasses of the apostates, the idolaters and the atheists.
8. Sacrificing and the related suspicions
- The method of slaughtering that is Islamically satisfactory
- Are carcasses originally lawful or unlawful? And how does this affect the ruling?

9. Mechanical slaughtering
10. The use of electric shock or killing by a violent blow before slaughtering
11. The ruling, in details, on the uttering of Allah’s Name in the cases of Muslims and People of the Scripture.
12. The difference between doubt in utterance of Allah’s Name and doubtful sacrificing
13. Does the slaughtering of pigs and other prohibited animals in the same slaughterhouse affect the Fiqhi opinion?
14. The decencies of slaughtering and the necessity of being merciful to the slaughtered animal

The food and drinks:

1. The species of animals that are forbidden to be eaten
- The eating of frogs, crocodiles and lizards.

2. Varied issues in the chapter of foods and drinks:
- Eating in restaurants which serve prohibited foods and drinks
- Eating in the restaurants of the Chinese, Hindu, Sikhs and others
- Using the same cooking utensils in which prohibited food is cooked for cooking lawful (halal) food, or cooking on the same tin trays after cleaning with the iron cutter used in cooking, the pizza and sandwich cutters and knives
- Sitting to the same table with colleagues at work while they are eating or drinking what is unlawful
- Am I allowed to ask a Muslim host about the served meat?

3. Gelatin and enzymes in the foods: do they affect their lawfulness?
4. The fats contained in the foods and bakery in these countries
5. Transformation and its effect on the change of the form and application of the ruling: Vinegar from wine and intoxicants
6. The use of alcohol to add taste to some foods during cooking
7. The ruling concerning the foods and drinks containing trivial amounts of alcohol
8. The ruling on eating unhealthy foods though not containing anything unlawful
9. The ruling for sweets tasting like wine and the like, though truly wine-free

Medications and medicinal drugs:

1. On the ruling concerning the administration of medications containing a percentage of alcohol
2. What is the ruling for anesthetics and sleeping pills?
3. The ruling for the medicinal use of marijuana and similar drugs
4. The ruling on the use of stimulants for long distance drivers and the use of steroids by the youths for body building
5. Is seeking medical treatment obligatory?
6. The Fiqhi opinion on the use of mechanical ventilation and whether it is permissible to disconnect the patient.
7. The use of stimulants for the intoxicated on the following day and the Fiqhi opinion concerning selling and dispensing them.
8. Is it permissible to use Viagra and other sex stimulants?
9. On the ruling of the use of gelatin containing medicines
10. Is it lawful to participate in drug-trial studies?
11. Next day morning contraceptive pills: are they permissible?
12. The Fiqhi opinion on what is known as Prophetic Medicine; is it a ruling, or a widely used custom at the time of the Prophet (PBUH)?